The place on the bag isn't melted through. And the P.O. seems to have done some sort of patch job on the inside...or, maybe that's his melted clothes!
While I was skeptical, I can now "get" why people like these bikes. So, SO very different than our SOHC4's, or any other UJM for that matter. Some of the engineering seems to have been done "just because".
It doesn't feel flickable at all, but the chicken strips on the tires tell a different story. A month or so ago I was riding with some friends on the Saluda Grade (nice curvy road near Hendersonville, NC) and my friend on a modern CB500 couldn't shake me. He commented later "It looked like you had that thing really leaned over", but it never felt that way to me.
There's no "rip you off the seat" feeling of power, but it'll get you to 80 or 90 MPH right quick like. The brakes are OK. It has the triple discs/Brembo calipers. They're...adequate. The rear is known to suck and some people convert back to drum but, like everything else on this bike, they get the job done.
It's 1,000cc with dual plugged heads. The fairing is a genuine BMW S fairing that someone installed. The bars are K-model bars. I get 42-47 MPG with it and can go well over 200 miles before hitting reserve. In fact, I've never had to go to reserve. I think I've gone as far as 225 miles before filling up and never needed reserve.
The riding position is sporty but all day comfortable. The R fairing/seating position actually has better wind protection than my Tiger Xc with a Givi Aero-Flo windshield.
This bike doesn't excel at anything, but it does EVERYthing well. I can see why people become fanatics about them.
